Books, Movies, and Heroes (Livres, films, et des héros)
People like to read books, see a film, and wait for a hero.
But, it depends on a cultural zone they belong to what books they read, what film they like to see, and what hero they are waiting for.
Only in America, Christians, Judaists and even Muslims could enjoy the same material, sine all the religions related to them were created in the Old World.
In other word, Christians, Judaists and even Muslims in America should think they are different from Christians, Judaists and even Muslims in the Old World. Especially, they should in these days, 2000 years after the birth of Christ Jesus. Specifically, after 500 years of the voyage by Columbus, it is time for Americans to wonder why they are still Christians, Judaists, or Muslims while they are not in the Old World.
SECTION I: Rankings of Books
You are neither requested nor compelled to read the Bible or Koran.
There are many useful and interesting books in the world, though without Christ Jesus and Islam they should have been all impossible.
Landmarks of Modern Literature:
1. The Three Sisters by Chekhov, Anton
2. Remembrance of Things Past by Proust, Marcel
3. Tender Buttons: Objects Food Rooms by Stein, Gertrude.
4. The Metamorphosis by Kafka, Franz.
Colonialism and its Aftermath:
1. Lord Jim by Conrad, Joseph
2. Kim by Kipling, Rudyard
3. Satyagraha [Non-Violent Resistance] by Gandhi, Mohandas K
4. A Passage to India by Forster, E. M.
Protest and Progress:
1. The Battle with the Slum by Riis, Jacob
2. The Souls of Black Folk by Du Bois, W. E. B.
3. The Jungle by Sinclair, Upton
4. Twenty Years at Hull House by Addams, Jane
Nature's Realm:
1. The Life of the Bee by Maeterlinck, Maurice
2. Treatise on Radioactivity by Curie, Marie Sklodowska
3. The Meaning of Relativity by Einstein, Albert
4. A Field Guide to the Birds by Peterson, Roger Tory
Optimism, Joy, Gentility:
1. The Country of the Pointed Firs by Jewett, Sarah Orne
2. The Stoy of My Life by Keller, Helen
3. The Innocence of Father Brown by Chesterton, G. K.
4. Platero and I: An Andalusian Elegy by Jimez, Juan Ram
http://aokiuva.web.infoseek.co.jp/ny100.html
SECTION II: British Rankings of Movies
Hollywood is governed by American Judaists. So, movies enjoyed by the English might be a little different from Americans' favorites.
1. The Third Man...1949
2. Brief Encounter...1946
3. Lawrence of Arabia...1962
4. THE 39 STEPS...1935
5. THE GREAT EXPECTATIONS...1946
6. Kind Hearts and Coronets...1949
7. KES...1969
8. Don't Look Now...1973
9. THE RED SHOES...1948
10. TRAINSPOTTING...1996
11. The Bridge on The River Kwai...1957
http://aokiuva.web.infoseek.co.jp/mbfi.html
SECTION III: World Heroes Popular among Japanese
The Japanese people respect some Western geniuses but not so much Western politicians.
1. Albert Einstein
2. Leonardo da Vinci
3. Thomas Alva Edison
4. Ludwig van Beethoven
5. Ayrton Senna da Silva
6. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
7. Wilbur Wright & Orville Wright
8. Sir Charles "Charlie" Spencer Chaplin
9. William Shakespeare
10. Marie Curie
11. Pablo Picasso
12. John Lennon
13. Frédéric François Chopin
14. “Babe”George Herman Ruth
15. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
16. Walter Elias Disney
17. Isaac Newton
18. Martin Luther King, Jr.
http://orangekick.blog19.fc2.com/blog-entry-573.html
However, I do not necessarily respect da Vinci if I respect Shakespeare, though both the figures do not look like honest Christians at all.
*** *** *** ***
The year 1492 was a symbolic year for the fate of Christians, Judaists, and Muslims.
On January 2, 1492, the last Muslim in Iberia, Emir Muhammad XII, known as Boabdil to the Spanish, surrendered complete control of Emirate of Granada, to Ferdinand II and Isabella.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granada#Reconquista_and_the_16th_century
On 31 March 1492, the Alhambra Decree for the expulsion of the Jews was issued (See main article on Inquisition).[47] The Jews had until the end of July, three months, to leave the country and they were not to take with them gold, silver, money, arms, or horses.[47] Traditionally, it had been claimed that as many as 200,000 Jews left Spain, but recent historians have shown that such figures are exagerated: Henry Kamen has shown that out of a total population of 80,000 Jews, a maximum of 40,000 left and the rest converted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_I_of_Spain#Events_of_1492
Between 1492 and 1503, Columbus completed four round-trip voyages between Spain and the Americas, all of them under the sponsorship of the Crown of Castile. These voyages marked the beginning of the European exploration and colonization of the American continents, and are thus of enormous significance in Western history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus
According to a theory, many Judaists converted to Christianity around 1492. Especially, as the Spanish royal house needed support from the Vatican, they forced Judaists living in Spain to convert into Christianity or leave Spain, or otherwise get executed. So, many Judaists converted to Christianity, but they were afraid of being suspected of secretly keeping faith in Judaism. To avoid getting under suspicion, Judaists-converted Christians turned to be aggressive Christian missionaries preaching in lands of pagans. And, Columbus paved the way for expansion of their missionary work.
Finally, the incidents that happened around 1492 could be a subject for a great book or a movie. A true hero might be yet to be discovered in new light for 1492.
Luk 7:21 And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight.
Luk 7:22 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.